5/14/2016

Provident Fund , abbreviated as PF, is an employee fund
where employees contribute a part of their salaries and employers contribute a
part as well for their employees. In general, 12 % of your basic salary is
contributed by the employee and an equal amount is contributed by employer as
well. This is a mandatory retirement saving which is managed by the Government
of India. This fund is for the benefits of the citizens of India and acts as pension
fund. The fund is paid out to those who retire and in cases to the disabled.

Early PF With drawl is not a very good idea

PF is an employee fund where you build money slowly but
steadily for ensuring the right flow of money during your old age. The rate of
interest is 8.75% which is completely tax free if you withdraw the money after
5 years of opening the PF account. In case you are switching your job, you can
transfer PF instead of withdrawing the amount.

Procedures to withdraw PF through Employer

In this process, you can visit the HR of the employer along
with a copy of blank cheque. Form 19 and 10C will be handed over to you by the
HR. As you submit the forms to HR after filling them up, the form will be
attested and send by the the HR to the regional PF office. The PF office will
take a time period of one month for processing the application form. The PF
amount is then directly transferred to your account by The Employees' Provident
Fund Organization (EPFO).

Procedures to withdraw PF without involvement of Employer

The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has taken
various steps so that citizens can withdraw their PF amount without any
unwanted delays. In accordance with EPFO, details of Pan Card, Bank Account
Number , Aadhaar card is linked to the Universal Account Number (UAN) of your
PF account. Once the KYC (Know Your Customer) details are verified by the
employer, you can directly withdraw the PF amount using UAN. The employee does not need to contact the
employer any more for withdrawing their PF money. You can provide your UAN,
phone number, address as your basic details and a cancelled cheque of bank
account to the EPFO. Submit these documents with signature and you will get
your PF immediately. The amount will be transferred to your bank account on the
basis of KYC details , submitted by employer.

This method is really useful in case if the employee is not
being able to contact the previous employer.

In February, rules were set which stated that employees
cannot withdraw their PF amount before they turn 58. However , after receiving
several letters from different trade unions, new protocols have been set that
with drawl of PF money can be done for the purpose of education, housing,
medical treatment etc. The new regulations for PF will be effective from August
this year.